BOSTON — Two Transit police officers were taken to the hospital following a struggle with a “very violent” suspect who was armed with a butcher knife and hurling threats at an MBTA station in Boston late Friday morning, authorities said.
Officers responding to reports of a knife-wielding man who was threatening people and trying to deflate bus tires at the upper busway at Forest Hills station in the city’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood encountered the suspect, and a struggle ensued, according to Transit Police Superintendent Richard Sullivan.
“The suspect grabbed for the officer’s weapon. They continued to struggle, and ultimately the officers gained control of him,” Sullivan told reporters. “During that initial struggle, somehow, there was a discharge of the officer’s weapon.”
Nobody was struck by the gunshot or stabbed. Sullivan said investigators are working to determine how the weapon was discharged.
Both officers were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The suspect was taken into custody at the scene. The names of those involved in the struggle haven’t been released.
Sullivan noted that the suspect would face a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, at the very least.
“This was a violent person, armed with a butcher knife. We’re not talking a little pocket knife,” Sullivan explained. “He was threatening someone to stab them and trying to stab tires on a bus.”
Boston EMS told Boston 25 News that six people in total were transported from the scene, but didn’t provide any additional details.
In a post on X, the MBTA said that the upper busway at Forest Hills would be temporarily closed to allow for the police investigation. Riders were urged to board buses in the lower busway. Orange Line service wasn’t impacted.
Despite the chaotic scene, the buses were rolling again in time for the afternoon commute.
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Video from the scene showed Boston police and Transit police cruisers blocking the entrance to the station. Dozens of detectives and officers were also seen patrolling the area.
A Boston 25 News photographer spotted multiple evidence markers scattered on the ground near a white Nike sneaker and much of the area roped off with yellow crime tape.
A neighborhood resident says she heard a shot and a scream before law enforcement and ambulances swarmed the busway.
The investigation remains active and ongoing.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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